The Second Run
by Mikisanji
Summary: Have you ever woken up to loud noises and a place you've never been before? It sucks. Moreso if there's some creepy bartender chick there. "Hope you have a pleasant rebirth!" SI-based OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Mika~ Before I begin, Special thanks to Yoshtar for letting me use Gaming for Glory's ideas.**

 **Twisted~ You used teh what from teh who?**

 **Mika~Yoshtar, and his story's ideas.**

 **Twisted~ Oh. Kewl~**

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Waking up to loud noises and bright lights is never a happy occurrence. Waking up in an unfamiliar location doesn't far fall behind on the suck level. Being mute like myself makes it terrifying. You can imagine how I reacted, then, when the same happened to me.

The noise was a simple, soothing violin piece, accompanied by a piano. Had it been any other time, I would have enjoyed it, but now I was looking around the room in a panic, trying to figure out where I was. The faint scent of smoke was in my nose, and I looked around, taking where I was in at.

A large bar, ornate bar, lit brightly by stark, almost glaring pinkish-white lights that reflected off the gilded, enamelled metal running along the dark oak bar and shelves. A beautiful, yet simple, stained glass window-like decoration sat in the middle of the bar, surrounded by an odd assortment of new and anciently old variants of spirits. A single colorful, padded stool sat against the wood of the bar, and gave off the impression it had sat there, alone, for centuries, yet also that it had seen many patrons resting atop it, drinking from the odd assortment of spirits no doubt. The warm candlelight reflected off both stool and bar warmly yet… Coldly, with an odd, almost astral or deathly air coming off them.

I blinked as a door opened, and the bartender turned the corner, polishing a glass and looking up at me. "Ah. Miss-... I suppose your name no longer applies, sorry." She turned, setting her glasses on the counter and smiling in what would have been warm, comforting even, in the circumstances. Not the case, unfortunately.

One eye was a pale, frosty white and blue, almost to the point she seemed to be blind if not for the obvious sharpness of her gaze. The other was nearly the exact opposite, pitch black with a menacing, almost evil looking, red eye. Yet, somehow, the latter was more human and welcoming than the former, as it exuded what felt like warmth and life and the other gave off a sensation of… Cruelty, finality and cruel conclusions. "By the way, why don't you try to speak?"

She smiled, almost a sneer on her right side where the pale eye sat, glaring amid the waterfall of black hair framing her pale face and neck, no doubt continuing down her back at least to her shoulders at the very least. The blouse and pants were both deceptively simple and straight cut, but the numerous zippers running along the legs and the odd puff in the blouse told another, well hidden and likely darkly dangerous, secret. She wore heeled boots as well, but from the ease with which she moved no one could doubt that they didn't hinder her in the slightest.

"Wha-" I croaked out, putting my hands over my mouth. "Oh my god, I-I can talk?"

"Congrats. Now then, to business." My eyes locked onto hers, still stunned by the revelation that I could talk now, and she smirked and grabbed herself a drink. "You have been specially selected to choose a new life." With another flourish, several cards appeared on the bar between us, and I took a seat when she gestured for me to do so. "Are you familiar with Remnant?"

"Yeah, I'm a fan of RWBY. W-Why?" I asked nervously, twirling my hair around my finger lightly for a moment.

"Congrats. You're going to Remnant. Pick a card, any card." She smiled both sinisterly and warmly, in direct spite of the inherent contradiction, and gestured at the cards on the bar.

I picked one up, halfway to flipping it before she put her hand on mine. "Tell you what- We'll keep this thing between us and let you decide, alright?"

She flipped over the card I was holding, and I blanched when I saw a picture of Penny on it. "This would've made you her sister, by the way. And a Gynoid." As she tapped the table, the cards flipped over, landing perfectly in unison. "Anyways, pick a card, any card." I took a look at the faces on the cards, All of them familiar faces from RWBY.

"Hold on, is that a Beowolf?!"

"That one's fun if you decide to mess with the system. Try it next time you're here- Last time somebody tried it, she taught a farmer how to fight. And got a bit of romance on the side. What was his name… Johhann Arc, that's right. Didn't they have a kid before she passed away due to friendly fire?"

Eventually, after much thought, I had chosen, gripping the card in my hand. "Good choice. I need you to answer these questions real quick though, okay? Cool. Favorite colors?"

"Silver." I said instantly and firmly, smiling, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Hm. Odd choice, but that's your name nonetheless, I suppose." She shrugged, smiling lightly through thin lips. "Semblance? You're an Earthling, so it's a lot more malleable than usual..."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll have an easier time adapting to your Semblance. That, and you have your own darkness sleeping in your soul that'll wake up when your Aura 'll probably give you multiple Semblances."

"Wait… So Earthlings have Aura? How don't we know this?"

"Earthling's Souls haven't been researched. There's a lot of myths and legends about it. Chakra. Aura. Magic. Whatever they called it, it existed. Which reminds me, you have a bit of Fox Faunus in your blood." She smiled at my reaction when I squeed slightly, and I blushed brightly.

"W-Wait, what? I'm part faunus?!" I nearly squeed, looking at my hands and blushing brightly when she chuckled, avoiding her gaze when I saw her teasing smile.

"Yeah. It's dormant due to Humanities' Aura never being activated. If you want me to trigger it, I can."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"That'll work… Hope you have a pleasant rebirth." She smiled sinisterly, leaning back away from the bar.

"What do you mean, re-" And then everything blacked out, the woman's laughter echoing in the darkness for a moment. .


	2. Chapter 2

I could see for the first time in what felt like forever, and everything was blurry. The light seared into my eyes with the force of a million angry bees, and it was all skin toned or dark giants and dancing shadows I couldn't quite make out. It was colors and colors and so many more damned colors, all mixed with blots of white and black and violent reds, I couldn't understand any differences between any of the shapes.

If seeing was bad, then the hearing was infinitely worse in a way that brooked no debate. The noise was completely, ridiculously deafening, and surrounded me, mercilessly pounding on my ears without fail or respite. What sounded like a really bad opera blared around me, sung in the voices of three or four different people. One of them was screaming, a woman it sounded like, and she sounded to be in absolute agony. It made my head heart and it terrified me. Another, younger voice sounded out, louder than the rest, as something happened.

It smelled like blood, the familiar rusty, irony tang surrounding me completely like a shroud and encompassing my entire world of senses until I couldn't understand anything at all through it, like a thick, coppery smelling mist. I felt myself being exchanged from one pair of titan hands to another, a pair of rough, calloused hands, and then there was a soft cooing sound, and then it clicked. I had just been reborn. I was a baby once again.

It wasn't a hallucination then, or a dream, or anything of the sort. The strange woman and the strange bar had been real, or I was insane. I felt exhaustion slam into me like a freight train as a tired feminine voice sounded out: "Shh… Go to sleep, my little girl… My precious little Luna..." Either way, my reality had changed without my thoughts controlling anything about it around me. And I would have to deal with it, one way or another.

 **-13 Years later-**

Living on Earth and watching Rwby, we never had seen exactly what Remnant was like to Faunus. Or rather, not truly, through the rose tinted glasses that everyone viewed the universe through, like a child following a child in the world. The world of Remnant was nowhere near as child-friendly as RWBY was portrayed as, and living in Atlas for the first eight years of my life had honed that to a fine point in my mind, unfailingly and in totality.

In RWBY, though I had forgotten most of it in such a long time, Blake had mentioned that she had been practically born in the White Fang. Being an orphan probably caused that, now that I was able to consider it from my new perspective, and made sense now that that particular informational void was filled for me. Mom died first, a police force firing on peaceful protesters and killing a few of them, injuring countless more.

Dad, forced to take a second job to cover for us kids, started working in a SDC factory out of desperation. He died when a high-pressure steam valve broke, giving him third degree burns instantly and killing him as well. No one even bat an eye, all we ever saw from the bastards was a small, printed apology letter with the Schnee logo on the front. Very clean, very official, and completely impersonal as expected by then.

And then we were alone, in a world of monsters in more than one sense. Well, not really alone- Dad did have friends in the White Fang, and they folded us into their little community right beside countless others much like us. Eventually, though, two years afterwards at the ripe age of eight, we were evicted, our homes that we had built ourselves torn down to put in a new fashion store. Another travesty of justice, and another letter with another Schnee logo on it as an apology for the 'inconvenience' of losing everything we had.

Some of us went to Vale. And Vale was where, four years later, a simple faunus with simple dreams of raising a family in peace without fear of bigotry stepped down from his post of leading the White Fang and was replaced by a different man.

The first few shops were firebombed the next day, filed under 'Protests' by everyone that mattered in the world. And so everyone was forced to choose sides, suddenly and mercilessly, and no recourse was offered. Human and Faunus, everyone had to decide in those days who and what they were, what they would stand for.

Our choice was obvious, really. Loyalty to family and friends who had saved us countless times and cared for us when none other would. The way it had to be, in a world where everything hated us for what we were, and without any reason beyond that.

And now, here we are, with Blake picking a lock, me holding a large 'package', and both of us wearing masks I never thought I'd touch much less wear. And Blake was taking absolutely forever with picking the locks in the dark back alley, stressing us both out to no end and causing us to take even longer. Or for it to feel that way, at the least.

"Blake, if somebody walks by with a flashlight…" I whispered, gripping the silenced pistol hidden in my coat nervously.

"They won't." She dismissed easily, false confidence in either herself or the idea no one would show up. A few minutes passed, slowly and painfully with the dull clicks and murmured swears beside me, and then I sighed in relief as I heard a click. "Got the first one."

"It took you five minutes to pick a lock?!" I questioned lowly, aggravated more by the stress than by her.

"Not all of us have a semblance that'll let us do that." She whispered back angrily, likely for the same reason as myself, really.

"Fuck it." I hissed, and the sound of shattering glass broke the silence of the night, shockingly loud, yet muted at the same time by the pounding pulse in my ears and the rushing adrenaline in my veins. A click sounded out quietly, and I gave a triumphant grin as I opened the door at long last.

"Screw you too." Blake muttered, and the two of us entered the bookstore quietly, ignoring the previously noisy sounds of shattered glass. Grabbing a basket and throwing another to Blake, I grabbed a few Young Adult and Adult books, my eyes widening as I saw a very specific book. One every fan of the show knew, regardless of their opinions on what it meant or was about.

"No way…" One of the admittedly minor things I remembered about RWBY was, in particular, this book. Ninjas of Love. And there were two of them, too, which was lucky for us. Well, more than two, but the rest were going to be kindling, sadly enough, so they hardly counted. The first two were the important ones, and the only ones that would survive as a result. Of course, I grabbed them both alongside an instruction manual for sword styles and a few magazines, on a whim more than anything.

"Here, have a present." I said, handing the basket to Blake as I set the package on the floor, knowing deep down she'd thank me later and unwrapping the string binding it together and opening the brown paper as quietly as possible, though it felt impossibly loud to me. Funny how that seemed to work.

It was a square boxlike object, four differently colored chemicals in tanks in the corners, shining brightly in the dark. I turned the chemical dial, a few air bubbles appearing as one of the chemicals started to get sucked into the center of the bomb. A timer appeared, and with a few clicks I had set the fire bomb to explode in both one and five minutes, first a fire, then a detonation to spread it even further, quicker.

"Bomb's set, Blake. Let's go!" I smiled proudly, hoping it would work like it should, and the two of us tossed our masks aside, leaving them to burn in the fire, as I took my basket and we left how we came. "Hang on a tick," I said, grabbing Blake's arm halfway down the street," I wanna see if it goes off."

Of course, it did in fact go off, and the flames reached high into the sky within minutes as the books were set ablaze by the admittedly small flames. The bomb's secondary was set off to go when either two things happened- the flames got too hot or the timer ran down. And a few minutes after the flames licked the skyline itself, a second explosion, not muted as the other was, went off, the explosion blowing out the windows entirely and tossing ash and ember high into the sky as we smiled in satisfaction.

Of course, with dozens of cops and response teams all over the place, we couldn't exactly get picked up or anything, so we went to an apartment another White Fang member had to stay for the night, and which had been offered up for this exact purpose when news spread of the impending attacks. So Blake and I spent some time alone partaking of our shared favorite hobby.

Reading, pretty much any kind of books. I simply sat on the floor in the empty apartment, my back against my sister's, and smiled knowingly whenever she giggled perversely. I would read my version of it later, when she had gone to bed.

Eventually, and I didn't exactly know when it happened, we both fell asleep where we sat, in the bare and cool apartment. I only woke up when I heard the lock in the door turning and it opening, jumping to my feet warily with my sister mirroring the action. We both relaxed when Adam stepped through the door, smiling slightly at us from behind his white mask.

"You've done well, impressively so and beyond honest expectation. The authorities have no idea who bombed the building last night, and our contacts are keeping an ear out for it." He nodded in respect, "Good work, both of you. There's a car outside that'll take us home. Nice, quiet area, no windows or unwanted observers. Perfect for us."

"Alright then. Let's go back home." I said easily, popping my shoulder as I helped Blake up, ignoring the dull ache of a back that slept uncomfortably.

The ride home was a lengthy enough one, in stages, as they didn't live inside the walls. The village itself was relatively small, enough so that it couldn't be officially recognized as anything other than a village at all, reliant nearly entirely on mercenaries, Hunters and fortune for protection.

This was the deception, rather, which would now come to serve the White Fang beautifully, hopefully for a very long time. No military oversight, few Hunters coming through - and fewer still ones which owed loyalty to anyone problematic like Ozpin or the Council of Vale - and an ever-present need for reliable defenders meant that the White Fang could easily take over as protectors of the almost entirely Faunus village with nary an opponent.

And this was where, after nearly a day of travel and quiet conversation or book reading, the trio came to rest.

 **-2 Years Later-**

Luna gave a silent yawn as she stared through the scope of her borrowed White-Fang-camoed AMR waiting for the target to appear. It had been a couple years since their first bombing in Vale, and the duo had been trained a good bit in that time. While Blake, as Luna had known all along, had grown to favor her Gambol Shroud almost as soon as she found it. Luna herself had instead found a talent with rifles, which surprised even her as she didn't like them overmuch. She much preferred swords, like the one hanging off her waist right now.

The duo had been sent together, as usual, on a job to hit a Schnee factory that was one of many to give the Schnees their name as Faunus slavers. So while Blake went in to loot the place and help out anyone she could, Luna had a... Slightly different job altogether.

Namely the pale haired aristocratic looking woman walking with an equally pale headed young girl outside the factory, talking about something. Luna frowned, glancing the girl over, and shook her head when she didn't recognize her. Poor kid would probably have nightmares, but Luna knew dozens of kids having them thanks to Schnees.

Luna sighed, going onto the radio.

"Sir, The target's with her daughter."

"Sergeant, you have your orders. The girl is at your discretion."

"Yes sir…" Luna said, turning off her radio and gripping her rifle.

"Sorry about this…" Luna said, a hint of sorrow in her voice as she loaded the single round into the AMR and took aim. "I have my orders..." Luna fired, the rifle bucking against her shoulder.

The .50 BMG bullet flew out of the barrel, a sonic trail following its long and deadly journey. It sliced through the air easily enough, headed towards the woman's pale flesh just below her neck, and within moments slammed into it. Amid the blood, bone and flesh turned to mist it continued its journey, smashing into and through the wall behind the falling body and through it into a Dust storage container's coolant tank, rupturing it most dangerously indeed.

Weiss Schnee looked up at her Mom as she smiled, looking at her. "Weiss, Eventually, the SDC will belong to you. When you're the CEO, I will be there, cheering you on. But first, we need to show you one of the fac-"

Weiss's teeth bit down sharply as the echoes a gunshot reverberated through her skull, simultaneous with a large section of her Mom's chest turning to pasty red mist and a splash of warmth on both the factory wall and Weiss's face. Weiss blinked as her Mom took a step forward and fell down, a large chunk missing. But she was still holding her….

Weiss screamed as everything registered, ignoring the severed arm she was still holding and flailing it towards the now-corpse, just as a Dust container inside the building dangerously close exploded violently.

"You are unbelievable!" Blake hissed furiously when I got back, looking at the news reports blaring out already from the news. "You shot her, in front of her daughter! What the actual hell was that!?"

"That was me doing my job, sis." I shrugged nonchalantly, sighing tiredly," Mine was just… Messier, that's all. Besides, the kid wasn't _supposed_ to be there, but I had to take the shot and kill the Schnee."

But I had still shot her...

"No, you didn't! You could have let the kid keep her mom, Luna. No one had to die, and you know it." Blake nearly snarled, backing down after a second and taking a step back in the small apartment, another like the one they'd stayed in so many times since their first," You're… Ruthless. I… Don't like this, at all."

"Blake… I don't either, but Years from now, this will be seen as a sad necessity." I sighed, sadly, and leaned against the window tiredly," We tried the nice ways, they didn't work at all, remember?"

Blake didn't say anything, instead simply sighing angrily, or perhaps sadly, it was sometimes hard to tell now, and opened her book to read it yet again, the crimson lettering faded by now.

Odd, in the show it looked new…

I opened my own book, beginning to read, and about half an hour later, I stood up impatiently, adrenaline coursing through me from nowhere and for no reason. I couldn't stop thinking about that shot. The pull of the trigger, the bullet hitting her, the recoil of the gun bucking in my hand, the noise of the wind it broke and the dull, wet smack she'd made when she finally fell... The piercing scream of a young girl beside her dead mother, pleading for help.

"You okay, Luna?" Blake asked, looking up from her book worriedly after a moment of the fox sister's panic.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine." I said easily, the sound of the explosion echoing in my ears distantly, the scream always following on its heels. Lying, then. Oh well.

"You don't look okay…" Blake observed coolly, a hint of concern in her voice, despite her attempts to hide it and her talent in doing so. They were sisters, after all.

"I'm fine!" I snapped, as the screams of a little girl echoed in my mind yet again. "Just fine. See?" I smiled thinly, obviously forced, and saw her raised a thin brow at me disbelievingly.

"I see I was right to be concerned then." Adam said easily, and I whirled to face him, having neither heard him enter the apartment or approach me. A major lapse in attention, for me at least.

"A-adam! When did you arrive?" I asked, flustered, tired, and worried over what he'd think. He couldn't think I was weak, or he wouldn't let me fight as I needed. as we all needed.

"Midway through your first episode. Sit down, Luna." He said shortly, gesturing at a stool against the wall.

"I'm fine, really." I said, as he forced me down on the seat and I met his concerned gaze, evident even through the mask he always wore.

"Please. I want to help you." He said gently as he took a seat. "I don't want you to get hurt. I've had squadmates who've dealt with issues like you're having. I don't want you to end up like they did."

"I'm fine." I insisted, though it felt weak even to me and obviously didn't convince either of the other two Faunus in the room.

"Fine then. What round did you use in that mission?" He asked gruffly, shaking his head and taking a step back.

".50 BM-" The bullet tore through her like tissue paper, painting the wall and ground with her blood. Her body made a soft squelch as it-.

"Luna. LUNA!" Adam interrupted, looking concerned.

"Maybe I do have a problem…"

-Two Years Later-

"The mission's simple. There's a Dust Train coming by, according to one of our informants. On the other side, there's a SDC board member who is inspecting the refinery. We're going to steal a few small crates of Dust, then blow the train and the factory sky high." I said, looking at my Scroll idly and making notes.

"And Blake?" Adam asked gruffly, checking his sword absentmindedly and rolling his shoulders to loosen up.

"Blake's here as extra hands, in case we run into any resistance anywhere. She… wanted to help." She sighed, letting out a nervous breath and smiled shyly, almost, as she spoke again. "At least it's an unmanned train…"

"Yeah. It took you a month before you recovered from your first kill. Surprisingly quickly, but you always did bounce back from things like that." Adam said, looking up at her.

"Alright then. Five minutes. Tell Blake it's time." Luna said quietly, and he nodded quickly in reply.

"Roger." Adam said simply, turning to stride into the forest like she'd asked.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite everything else running through my mind, looking out from the top of the cliff at the wide expanse of Forever fall was always just breathtaking. A sea of crimson leaved trees as far as the eye could see in almost every direction, Vale's massive wall, barely visible even to her eyes, at this massive distance, far to the south. And far below, the train tracks that the Schnees had built high above the floor of the forest, to protect from the Grimm below blocking tracks.

I leaned forward to look out on the forest, feeling my sword shift familiarly and comfortably and rested my off hand on it habitually. It had been a gift from Adam, after I mentioned that I liked his own, and I had put it to very good use since getting it. Appearing almost like a katana in shape and design, my chokuto was slightly straighter than a katana and shorter than Adam's, with serrated edges along the lower third of it to inflict maximum damage on any and all unlucky enough to taste it. Unlike Adam's however, mine had no guard whatsoever, with a black hilt with white wrappings. On the reverse side of my sword, a small dip in the sword's tip revealed the barrel of the mid-caliber rifle that was built into the sword.

Engraved on the blade and wrapped around the white sheathe wrappings was a number of red slashes, just like the WF's tears, one for each Schnee I had killed, a feat few accomplished. I had six. Above it, a simple engraving stood, unfamiliar to the engravers. Being from Earth, I knew them well. 记住他们. Chinese letters that, unknown to the engravers, carried my guilt, reminding me of each one- Remember Them. As I was right handed, the first engraving I saw if I took the time to put my sword up, flat facing me, was the empty steel of the blade.

On my left hand, I had a pair of claws, one on each finger. The bracer and gauntlet that did so was a seemingly simple bracer, but the gauntlet did one thing- form claws on my fingers.

Blake came up to me a few moments, looking lost in thought. "So, sis- Any reason I'm here? You and Adam could have done this easily all on your own."

"Just a simple thing, really. We needed a few more hands for this. This is low-priority though, so don't worry too much about things." I hated lying to Blake like this, as though it was no problem. The real reason was simple- the two of us were the best assassins they had. The markings on my sword were not just for the Schnee I had killed, but also for the countless others I had killed to get to my targets. Blake was here to raid anything she could while we went through the train on our own mission.

Our ears perked as we heard a distant train whistle, preventing any possible conflict Blake would or could cause with me if she found out our actual goals, and I sheathed my sword quickly, catching Adam's eye when he stepped into view. "Let's do this." And then we jumped off the cliff, just like I remembered just barely from the show. As the train came hurtling towards us, I jumped first, extending the claws on my left hand as I slammed into the roof, my claws dragging as I slid down the train's roof and did my utmost to ignore the painful sound of tearing and scraping metal as I slid, leaving a series of gouges behind me.

I stood up easily, feeling the wind rushing through my hair easily as I slowly walked to the entry hatch. Adam opened it easily with a slash, and I jumped down, followed by Blake and Adam.

"Huh. Guess this'll be fun after all…" I said easily, popping my sword from it's sheathe a little bit and putting my hand around my sword as the AK-130s around us activated.

Adam and Blake nodded, the three of us familiar with our personal fighting styles. "Looks like they're going with the hard way." Adam said easily as they started to circle us. Their arms swapped to gun mode as they leveled them at us, their 'Voice' sounding out.

"INTRUDER. IDENTIFY YOURSELF."

Adam's sword shot out of his sheathe with a bang, hitting an android and caving in its metallic head as I turned, slashing into one that was behind the two of them and bisecting them easily. Blake followed Adam, and I heard the breaking of metal as I focused on my own fight.

I pried open a box, looking back at the car we had just left, filled with destroyed bits and pieces of those frankly useless security mechs. Even in the show, with two people, I distantly remembered that part being easy, and I'd started sorting through one of the crates to make sure we had the right one right after the fight.

"Perfect. Move up and we'll set the charges." I idly remembered this scene. It was important somehow…

"What about the crew?" Blake asked apprehensively.

"What about them?" Adam asked unflinchingly coldly as I froze, finally remembering exactly what had happened on this train.

"Hold up… Doesn't the SDC use Faunus crew?" I asked, hoping to help my younger sister a bit, and standing up fully to look at the tense duo.

"Collateral damage. Besides, they knew what they signed up for. And more importantly, who they signed up with." He snarled, and I looked at Blake and bit my lip. I couldn't kill Faunus. We were supposed to protect them from the humans. Of course, there were a few good ones, like 'Birdie', A boy who had helped us a few years ago. Either one of us could have died in Vale's winter that year, harsh as they almost always were.

"Luna. Adam..." I heard Blake start to say apprehensively as we turned, a spider droid dropping from the roof with a loud clanging and smashing. Whatever Blake could have said - and I knew what she would say, honestly - was left for now as a result.

Its first barrage was easily dodged by the three of us, though it did rock the train car noticeably, and I groaned in frustration. Compared to the coming storm, this was preferred, but that didn't mean I liked the blasted thing. It charged it's larger, multi-laser, and I lifted my sword, shooting at one of the ejection fields for the plasma beam.

"Left!" Adam barked loudly, and the three of us jumped to the left immediately when he spoke, the beam curving upwards and to the right. The near miss still had enough force to send us flying, and we roughly landed on a flatbed train car as the spider droid worked it's way through the hole in the wall, it's cannons now converted to barrage mode. "Everyone okay?!"

"Yes!" We both barked loudly, mostly out of habit.

"That will disable the cannon for a while…" I said, as the 'barrels' of the disabled cannon opened and a bullet dropped out of it. "Or not!"

"Buy me some time!" Adam yelled, as he sheathed his sword, focusing. I frowned, familiar with his semblance, and focused on the droid.

"Move!" Adam commanded as the droid shifted to multi-lazer mode. The two of us jumped back behind Adam as it fired, only to be stopped by Adam's sword as his Semblance processed it.

He gave a malevolent, almost evil, laugh as the beam ended, the Droid's AI deciding to crush him, and then the world seemed to stop. Crates were sliced in half as his blade seared the air. In the distance, the leaves of trees were broken off, leaving the trees bare as the force severed their stems. The droid had no chance to react, much less strike Adam, before it disintegrated before it had landed.

And in that one moment, a blink of my eye, it was over.

"Alright th-" Adam said, turning. "Blake…"

"Goodbye." I turned, hearing what she had said but not comprehending it, looking at Blake as she hesitantly looked back at me and Adam, before cutting the connectors between our cars with a sense of finality. The train cars slowed, and I sighed as I looked at Adam, suddenly realizing that I HADN'T made Blake's life better.

"Luna-" He said, as I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, giving him a pained smile.

"I'm sorry. I can't kill Faunus… We've changed, and not for the better." And with that, I jumped onto the train with Blake. I could feel Blake looked at me in shock as I stared at the rapidly diminishing image of Adam in the distance, staring at me with his removed mask in his hands with a look of pure pain on his eyes as his sword clattered to the train and he fell to his knees, still staring at me. I looked away, unable to meet his eyes.

"Why?" Blake asked, her grip on her sword tightening anxiously. She was willing to attack me to go free?

"I refuse to kill Faunus. We were supposed to protect them, not…" I trailed off anxiously, reaching up to thumb a finger across my White Fang patch nervously," Anything else…"

"What about the Humans you killed, then?!" Blake growled as I raised my sword to my arm.

"Aside from the Schnees, every human I have killed has been a threat. What use is equality if there's nobody to be equals to?" Blake blinked, shocked at my obviously well-thought out beliefs, and I sheathed my sword and tore the last few threads of the patch off almost violently, taking a look at it. The White Fang's symbol stood out at me, the outside of the patch a large playing card's Spade. "Things… change." I stood still, looking at the patch before letting the wind catch it. "So, sis, what are we doing now? You do have a plan, right?"

"I was going to go into Beacon. I have the paperwork finished and everything, but it's a few days before the minimum time requirement. I was going to turn it in today..." Blake shrugged with a sigh, gesturing at the train behind them.

"So, we get off this train, I grab some paperwork for Beacon after you give them yours, and I get started. Sounds easy enough, compared to everything else we've done." I chuckled lightly, turning and walking to the edge of the train," We could jump now, it's survivable… maybe."

"At this distance from Vale? I'd rather wait a bit, I don't know we both could make that trek in Grimm territory." Blake argued, looking off towards the still distant walls anxiously.

"But if we wait too long, we might get caught by the SDC." Luna countered, pointing at the equally distant plumes of smoke that betrayed a factory further to them than the walls proper, but with a manned checkpoint in the wall.

"Good point." Blake conceded quietly, grimacing at the thought.

"And so what was your explanation to Beacon?"

"I was born outside the walls." Blake explained easily and quickly, gesturing around them," Rare enough I'd be undocumented, but common enough not to be questioned."

"So we're just a few immigrants to Vale. Walk in the front door, they'll accept us once we talk about how we want to become Huntresses, wanna help people and shit, maybe spin a story about Grimm killing our village." I waved my hand almost dismissively, more at the security that would buy such a flimsy story than anything else, although I could see the reasoning. Dozens of villages were lost every month, especially the smaller ones that tended to branch away from the larger.

"Let's keep it simple. Born in Atlas, first eight years of our life were in Atlas. Spent the next nine years in a village with other people before our village was destroyed totally." Blake always tended to think things through better, and faster, than I did somehow.

"Sounds good. Now… Let's get off this train, shall we?" I asked coolly, gesturing over the edge of the moving train.

"Let's get this over with... " Blake said, taking a flying leap from the train, myself hot on her non-existent tail. We hit the ground a moment later, both of us wincing and getting winded from the fall, and stood up to start walking.

Eventually, after a full day and a half of walking and avoiding Grimm, we were close enough to Vale's wall to relax. Or rather, close enough that security forces kept the area relatively clear of Grimm and would almost certainly spot us on their feeds, so as long as we kept moving towards Vale they'd see us.

Just a few hours afterwards, Blake no longer had her paperwork for Beacon and I was finishing up my own, and we had been cleared for entry into Vale proper as we'd expected. Our weapons were lying at the sides of the sparse desk I had been at.

"Hey sis… How tall are you?" I asked quietly, glaring at her when she sighed impatiently.

"5'6"." She answered easily after a couple moments.

"5'4, then… Blake?" The girl groaned slightly again, and turned to look at me.

"Yes?"

"Should I go with my contacts or eye color?" The question was a mildly serious one, given the circumstances, and she knew it was important.

"Eye color. They always want eye color." Blake said simply, shrugging as though it were obvious. Which in a way, it kind of was.

"Amber and light blue, then…" Luna said easily, putting it onto the paper.

"Never knew where the blue came from..." Blake wondered, and I did my utmost to not freeze up or otherwise show any anxiety like I did whenever she mentioned it. That was my eye color on Earth. Apparently the saying 'the eyes are windows to the soul' is true here. Makes sense, when you consider Aura and everything, that souls would be so apparent in our bodies. "Always struck me as kind of odd, sis."

"Probably came from a distant relation or something like that, no telling really." I dismissed. Here in Remnant, Aura and the soul controlled quite a bit of reality, from bodies, to behaviors to even psychology. A perfect example was the rare cases where a soul did not match a body's gender- The body would correct itself during the fetal stages, a process known as Transexualism, matching Earth's lifestyle of the same name. "Maybe we'll find out one day. You never know."

I finished up the last piece of paperwork, giving it to the man waiting patiently on us. "... Miss, do you mind if you remove any contacts you're wearing for confirmation?"

I blinked, removing my left contact, a clear one, and then the right, an amber-tinted one. Both did nothing to improve my decent vision, but were enough to hide my eye color. "Thank you. I'll get this sent up to Beacon at once. We've ran every test you need to take, so if you're accepted you can get on the airship and be shipped to Beacon in four days time."


	4. Chapter 4

**Twisted~ Hi Pandas! How you doing?**

 **Mika~ And hello, My lovely vixens~!**

 **Twisted~ Pandas are cuter.**

 **Mika~ I'm not talking about animals~!**

 **Twisted~ I am very confused then!**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"So, you walked here, all by yourselves, without any form of support, navigation equipment or supplies?" Ozpin asked calmly, peering at the slightly older girl from across his desk, brow raised thinly in disbelief.

"Yep." I said lazily, my eyes narrowing at the man suspiciously almost on instinct. I knew what the Fandom said about Ozpin over everyone else, now to see if I could fool a memetic legend."And we found anything we needed to eat. Navigation equipment, well, your massive walls are visible from the mountains for miles around. Don't really need a map when your destination is literally visible at all times of every day."

"Ah, so you're from within sight range then?" Ozpin asked, smiling coyly and reclining in his chair. "Well, either way really, that is a long, long way to go. Impressive, even given that circumstance, for two young women to make that trek almost completely unharmed. So what village did you come from? I can send Hunters to check the area for survivors."

"You won't find a village up there. Not anymore, at least." I said, a bit of genuine sadness in my voice at the loss of my own home years before. "...Nothing's up there but ashes and memories. No one else got out, I know that much." And that was true. Several weeks before, Blackhaven, a faunus village, had burned down completely. There were no survivors.

"Perhaps, but all the same, I can still dispatch Hunters to eliminate the Grimm there at the least. Perhaps you simply missed the" Ozpin paused for a moment before grabbing another mug and offering it to her," My condolences, by the way. Coffee?"

"Do you have cream and sugar?" I asked meekly, nervously looking at the older man.

"Of course." He smiled, grabbing a small cylinder and sliding it across to me. "I also have milk in a fridge in the wall. And…. stronger substances as well, if you wish it."

"Thank you… Anyways… There was one entry into the village, our strongest point in the walls. Our plan always was simple- Man the walls, then seal the survivors inside the secondary defenses in the abandoned mine. Issue is…" My breath hitched, and his eyes softened slightly and he raised a hand.

"You needn't say any more if you feel unable. I can understand the issues, and the likely results. Of course, given recent events and your…. Nature, I do need the village's name. For security reasons." Ozpin smiled diplomatically, taking a long sip of his mug, and his eyes narrowed a bit.

"Blackhaven." I said, idly writing down the coordinates from memory, knowing they were correct enough. Ozpin looked at them, entering them into his scroll and looking at a map of the area, smiling oddly after a few seconds.

"Thank you for confirming that for me. Now… Seeing as you so skillfully managed to walk ten miles from your home to Vale, I must ask- Would you assist a teacher as a student teacher?" He steepled his fingers in front of his face, smiling confidently like he'd caught the fly in his web. I didn't like that look, it made me very uneasy in every meaningful way.

"I don't think I'm really qualified-"

"Nonsense. Experience is the best teacher. You will, of course, be compensated for your time with extra-credit." I sighed, looking at my hands. Admittedly, I did have decent enough survival skills, being able to identify edible plants easily, but that was something Blake could do as well. What Blake couldn't do, however, was know which ones to combine to form more potent mixtures for poisons or antidotes to said poisons. That was something I had learned on my assassination missions, killing Schnees and other High-priority targets in varied locations around the Kingdoms was really quite easy if you could spike their food or drink. At least, until the Schnees started renting entire Hotels for security.

"Alright, then. I accept." I took another sip of the coffee, and Ozpin smiled confidently, a look of satisfaction on his face," Can I, uh, go now I'm rather tired."

"Oh, of course. Very well then, I suppose I will see you at Beacon tomorrow." I got up to leave, turning. When I had opened the door and was just about to step through, Ozpin spoke up again with slight amusement in his eyes. "Also, next time you attempt to make an explaination, ensure that the West gate is not the longer path compared to the North one. I await Miss Goodwitch's report as you assist her in Criminal Studies, quite eagerly in fact. Welcome to Beacon, Miss Belladonna."

It was at that point that I knew. He knew I was White Fang, and my reaction probably solidified it in his eyes, stiffening in the door and nodding jerkily before ducking into the hallway hastily.

The two of us settled down into the corner, surrounded by the luggage of a hundred complete strangers and supplies. The two of us were down here to avoid the large, bustling crowd on the upper decks, our Faunus eyesight letting us read even with the dim lights of the airship. Sleeping on a crate was the only real option we had, since we had decided to come down here, but I had slept on and in much, much worse conditions before.

One situation I could remember distinctly was when I was surrounded by falling and knee-deep snow, a blanket overhead, protecting me and my sniper rifle from sight, the only warmth coming from the heated air under the blanket, warming herbs I had made, and a few hotpads I had squirreled away. I liked to collect warm things for… personal reasons. The warmth had absolutely nothing to do with it, beyond the obvious survival benefits.

"Hey, sis…" I said, my ears feeling a bit cold and twitching uncomfortably as a result. "Can I borrow your bow for a while? My ears are getting kinda cold."

"But, I, well, I need it…" She muttered, reaching up to touch it protectively," I can't take it off."

"Did you superglue something to your ears again?" I said with the straightest face I could muster. "Other than that, I don't see a reason why you can't take it off."

"I was six! Besides, you got some in your tail. And no, it's just… I kinda don't want people to know I'm a Faunus..." Blake's bow - and therefore her ears - flattened to her head nervously, and she started twiddling her thumbs out of habit.

"Blake... That's what you're afraid of? Some racist humans bullying you? They don't matter at all and you know that." She seemed to wilt slightly under my gaze after several seconds, and I sighed and rubbed my forehead, more worried about her now than my ears.

"But everything the White Fang has done…" Blake trailed off anxiously, bow still flattened and fingers still moving a mile a minute," I just want to… To start over."

"We aren't White Fang, though. Not anymore, and probably not ever again. We're Huntresses." I said calmly, grimacing after half a second," Well, sort of Huntresses, at least."

"I'm still keeping the bow on, though… I can't do it, sis." And then she gave me the _look_ and I broke, like always.

"If you insist, sis." I sighed, rubbing my eyes and collapsing onto my crate tiredly," I won't say a word about it, anyone asks and our mum was a Human."

"Thanks." She whispered back, and I watched her curl up for warmth and a short nap. Blake really did enjoy those quick little naps.

"Everyone is staring at us, sis," Blake muttered, sitting beside the wall with me and trying to read while I brushed my tail, ignoring the looks I got regardless of type and from who. The speech had been short and boring, which was… odd. And now we were all supposed to sleep, together, in the ballroom.

Annoying…

Thankfully enough, only a handful of the glares were actually racist in nature, most of them most likely concerning the fact that I was wearing a tanktop and gym shorts and not much else. Less a _Human_ problem and more just a problem that arises inevitably whenever women and men are together like this. Truly they were less actual glares and more leers, mostly coming from the males in the room. Blake and I were, of course, almost completely used to such looks given our past affiliations with the Fang, but that didn't exactly lessen the annoyance it caused.

Sensing Blake's anxiety, I smiled slightly and turned to her to whisper," Relax, they aren't looking at your head. They're looking at everything _else_ you have going on." She blushed brightly, diving into her book with renewed vigor, and I laughed lightly," I can still go kick their asses if you want me to."

"No, that's... It's fine if that's all they're staring at. That, I can live with, even if it's relatively annoying at times." She smiled slightly, eyes regarding me with that minor glint of happiness I had learned to pick out," It's… nice, not to be seen as a freak by anyone."

"Those guys don't matter." I said calmly, grimacing slightly. "Could go without the leers though, honestly. Better than the racist glares though, I'll admit that much." She curled up on her side next to Blake, starting to sleep for the next day's events," Night, Blakey."

"Night, Lulu." Blake said gently, reaching out to scratch at my ears slightly before returning to her book. It was to this scene that Ruby Rose And Yang Xiao Long met Blake, though I tuned out the conversation entirely and simply went to sleep.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated to the fullest in the Emerald Forest." Professor Ozpin said easily, sipping his coffee.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... **today**." Goodwitch said easily, and I smiled ever so slightly as I put the magazine I had been holding in the hilt of my sword, the rifle clicking as it accepted it.

I bit back a sigh as I heard Ruby's whine, inwardly wanting to hug her. I, myself, was standing on a spot of ground that did not have a spring, every other one taken by another student.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Goodwitch continued in her ever-crisp tone."That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"Whaaaa-?" I heard Ruby say, smiling slightly at the girl's reaction.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you **will** die." he warned, taking a final sip from his coffee. I heard Jaune gulp, which I ignored, knowing that he would be fine in the end. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Any pair that meets Miss Belladonna here-" He pointed at me with his thumb- "Will have her join that team. Are there any other questions?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the other candidates.

"Yeah, um, sir?" Jaune said, holding up his hand hesitantly.

" **Good!** Now, take your positions." A spring fired, and the first student was flung into the air and I laughed lightly when Jaune kept trying to ask Ozpin questions and kept getting mostly ignored. One by one, they fired, and more and more students went flying. As the final student was launched, Ozpin looked at me, sipping his coffee as the springboards slowly reset. "I hope you and Miss Goodwitch work well together, Miss Belladonna. Please step onto the plate."

I stepped onto the plate as it fired, and sighed when it flung me into the air with a dull bang, reaching up to cover my ears from the wind that inevitably tore against my head and ears. Soon enough, I was forced to twist my body to the side to avoid a branch of a massive tree and I dug the teeth of my blade into the hard oak wood to force myself to a stop, grunting slightly.

Finally back on the ground a few minutes later, after having climbed down the at least two hundred foot tall tree, I finally stretched and rolled my slightly sore shoulder before the ache finally subsided, either healed by Aura or just stretched and mended on its own. Hearing a quiet snarl, I sighed and spun, the Creep's head dropping from its shoulders as a girlish scream came from far enough away that it was a waste of time to even try looking for it. The next three suffered much the same fate as the first, and I quickly slid my sword into its sheathe and turned to head North.

The journey itself was truly rather peaceful, few Grimm venturing this far towards the city that were of any real danger or consequence. About half an hour later, my ears perked up as I heard gunshots close enough I could do something, so took off running towards them, and I entered the clearing just fast enough to see Weiss save Ruby with a wall of ice.

"Sis!" I heard Blake yell, running towards me from the ruins with her blonde partner headed in the direction of the angry, stuck 'Stalker and the equally stuck Ruby, as jumped down, my sword shifting into it's much more powerful rifle form. The hilt slid around on the to form the handle of the rifle as well and the back end of the blade slid back as it expanded vertically into a small stock, another section of the blade hitching up to form a scope along the top. With an exhale, I raised my sniper rifle, lining up a shot with the Deathstalker's eyes in the hopes of hitting it with a painful shot at the least.

I pulled the trigger with an exhale, the stock bucking against my shoulder sharply, and the Deathstalker's yip of pain was audible to my ears as the others turned towards me and I cycled the bolt.

"So what's the plan?" I said to Blake when she got to me. "Apparently, I'm with your team, so I'll follow your lead, I guess." She nodded, and I winced when the Nevermore started circling around," Some ruins down the cliffside we could probably use to get some open area to fight in." She opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of shattering ice startled us both and we simply turned to run as fast as our legs could carry us, the others quickly following suit when we ran past.

We ran, panting, as our eyes dart overhead at the searching nevermore, the nine of us hiding behind the stone. "We can't just keep running from the Nevermore." I whispered, staring at the others. "At some point, we'll have to drive it off or kill it if we want to leave." As if to prove my point, the Nevermore flew overhead, perching on a high column and cawing to the Deathstalker.

"Well, _that's_ great!" Yang said testily, ignoring any pretense of stealth. I turned as the Deathstalker entered the area loudly, cursing to myself as I saw that I hadn't blinded the Deathstalker like I had hoped.

A chink in the chitin oozed Ichor, but it was nothing compared to the damage a missing or damaged eye would do. The Nevermore took to the air, circling around for an attack.

"Nora, distract it!" I heard Ren shout as the nine of us scattered to avoid launched feathers, and a few grenades hit the Nevermore, only a few impacting and even less doing any meaningful damage.

Blake and Ren attacked the Deathstalker, ruining its would-be ambush on Nora. As they jumped to the side and started to run towards us. "Go, go!" Pyrrha shouted, our rifles sounding out as the Deathstalker slowly inched towards us.

Ren fluidly reloaded his Stormflower as we scattered, dodging a claw, while Pyrrha and myself reloaded as quickly as we could, and I swapped my rifle into its sword form and put my sheathe onto my hip. I looked to the side, seeing the Nevermore that was going to plow into the bridge at any second, and my mouth opened in a warning. "Nevermore!"

The others heeded my warning as the future Team RWBY - With exception to Blake, and the addition of Nora and Jaune - stopped in their tracks as I started to run with the nevermore, running the way it was going- Off the bridge.

I heard the crack of the stone as the Nevermore barreled into the bridge, and then I was airborne.

My claws gripped feathers in a death grip as I dug my sword into the grimm, slowly but surely deepening the wound I was making as I put all of my weight on the sword, my Semblance forming spikes on my three-inch heeled boots that helped me grip onto the Grimm's bulletproof feathers.

I lost my footing as the Nevermore dove, turning and bucking, and then the grip my sword had had in the flesh gave way. I swore, gripping onto the feathers, and then I let go, falling roughly next to the soon-to-be Team RWBY. As I got up, they opened fire, no longer concerned over accidentally hitting me.

I shifted my sword, lifting my rifle and take a few shots towards the Nevermore, most of them hitting but none of them doing much damage. As I reloaded with AP rounds, I remembered something I had seen in RWBY.

"Weiss, I have an idea! Put an Ice Glyph in front of my Rifle!" I shouted, as she caught on and complied. A big crash was heard as the nevermore toppled a pillar, and she swore primly and silently. As I took aim, a large Glyph appeared, and I fired. The round hit the glyph, a small crystal following it as the round hit the Nevermore, piercing into its wing but stopping midway through.

The second part hit just afterwards, the ice crystal hitting it's wings and causing a thick layer of ice to form that shook it in it's place. Blake swung in with Gambol Shroud, slashing at the Nevermore and landing easily as the real teams were formed at last, just as I vaguely recalled from long, long ago. "I have a plan! Cover me!" I heard Ruby shout as Weiss re-engaged the Nevermore, Sending out a few crystals that hit harmlessly as it dodged or ignored our rounds, collapsing a wall as it hit it almost too easily to be real.

"Do your plan, we'll buy you some time!" Yang called out to her sister before sprinting up a crumbling pillar to a higher platform.

"Wait! Where are you going?" I yelled as I began to follow after her.

"Height advantage! Seriously, don't wait up!" Yang grinned, driving an explosive fist into the ground and riding the inertial shockwave ever higher.

I couldn't help but smirk a little. Height advantage on a grounded enemy was one thing, but the Nevermore was still fully airborne. _This could be entertaining._

Yang scaled the stone tower with ease, standing before the oncoming Grimm like a champ one moment, and unloading a steady barrage of volatile volleys the next. The fireworks display enveloped the Nevermore in a fiery minefield, and it lasted mere seconds before taking a direct hit to the right side of its face. Careening in a drunken circle, the dumb thing charged Yang, beak gaping hungrily.

The situation until now had me watching in impressed amusement; As Yang leapt to greet the bird, however, my mood became that of dumbfounded shock. I had to do a double-take to make sure she hadn't been swallowed outright, and was relieved to see bright bursts of light escaping the corners of the Nevermore's mouth, accompanied by a beautiful battle-cry: "I! Hope! You're! Hun-gry!" With a final shot, Yang's blonde form fell to the ground gracefully. The Nevermore, not so much.

 _CRACK!_

The entirety of the cliff that loomed overhead shook violently as the great bird ate stone at terminal velocity. It fell in a heap on the roof of a dilapidated temple, shrieking a mournful, injured cry. "Sis!"

I turned to see Blake waving me over, and I returned to the situation at hand. _What are you doing? There's still a fight going on, dumbass!_ I scolded myself as I rushed to meet them. "What's up, Blakey?"

"A plan. Here's what we need to do…"

As Blake spoke, I watched Weiss move with unnatural speed to the Nevermore, which was recovering unexpectedly fast. As it began to rise once again, a sudden cold pressure on its tail made it squawk in surprise, a casing of thick ice rooting it to the ground. Meanwhile, the Schnee girl had returned to our end of the bridge.

"Blake!" Yang cried.

"Right." My sister turned to me with the lightest of smiles on her lips. "So, you got all that?"

"That's the plan?" I asked skeptically, grimacing slightly. "I mean, I see how it would work, but…"

"But you've got it?" She repeated urgently, glancing at Yang again, who motioned a universal, _hurry the fuck up_.

"...Yeah."

"Good." Blake leapt onto a pedestal, tossing her weapon's ribbon across to Yang, who stood opposite her. They both then stretched it taut, allowing Ruby to land, Crescent Rose and all, on the makeshift slingshot.

I joined Weiss, the uncomfortable feeling of irony falling on me as I worked with my lifetime enemy to lock Ruby in place. I didn't really feel like talking, but gritted my teeth just in case.

"Of course _you_ would come up with this idea…" Weiss sighed as Ruby tensed herself in anticipation.

"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked quietly, seated on her scythe relatively uncomfortably.

"Hmm… Can I…" She asked cockily, smiling slightly and adjusting her position.

Both Ruby and myself looked at Weiss worriedly. My promise of silence going out the window quickly, enough so to surprise even me. "Can you?" We asked in unison.

" _Of course I can!_ " She snapped quickly, rolling her eyes as if it was our fault for doubting her. I shrugged as Ruby cocked her weapon, putting a bullet in the chamber as the last step of preparation. Weiss thrust her hands forward, her locking glyph shifting from black to red with an admittedly impressive flourish, and I released my hold on the ribbon as the ungodly amount of tensile force was unleashed, the small, red-hooded girl flying faster than I had ever thought possible for a young girl.

"I'm betting she cuts the head off before they even hit the cliffside." Yang observed.

"I'm guessing halfway up the cliff." I said absentmindedly, still focused on the red smear flying across the sky, trying to remember the episode I'd seen so long ago it had become fuzzy in my mind.

"Are you honestly taking lots? That's so…" Weiss started, but felt the pressure as Yang and I glared in her direction. "I-I say the top of the cliff."

"What about you, sis?" I asked Blake, smiling when she glared lightly back. All three of us looked at her expectantly and she swallowed nervously.

"...Top of the cliff." She muttered quietly, more to get us to stop staring then anything else most likely.

"You're taking Weiss's side?" I asked in mild surprise.

"No. Look." She pointed at the scene we had all taken our eyes off of, revealing to us the outcome of our wagers. A small speck of Ruby stood at the peak, capping the view of a dismembered Nevermore's head behind her and a falling mass of blood and feathers.

"Oh. It was the top of the cliff." Yang said flatly. "I guess I lost."

"Ha. I knew it." Weiss said proudly.

"But we didn't bet anything, so it doesn't count." I reasoned, hoping I wouldn't have to pay off the ice queen. Giving money to a Schnee…

"Oh…" Her shoulders slumped sadly.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sis, they have no idea what we've gone through. Why do I have to be friends with them?" I sighed, sharpening my sword in a private corner of the library idly. "And one of them is… Her."

"Relax, Luna. She's a teammate, and she'll never find out that we were _Shiro Kiba._ " Blake said lowly, low enough only they could possibly hear and even then they needed their Senses to do so, As well as knowledge of Japanese, and turning a page in her book. "Besides, you feel guilty for what you did to her family and company? Make it up to her. Protect her, help her."

"Even so, it's the principle behind it. But… I guess you're right, and if anything I can make sure the Schnee doesn't find out about us." I glared at a passing human slightly when her eyes stayed on us for more than a few seconds, until she turned and walked away quickly. "I don't like being here, Blake… Too many eyes, and too many of them on us."

"You could have always worn a bow and tucked your tail away." Blake murmured with a shrug, shaking her head at me derisively," I get why you didn't, but if you were going to dislike it so much to be looked at, why didn't you? Would have been rather sensible to cover your tail, pun not intended-"

"Or forgiven."

"-to do it." Blake finished, glaring threateningly at me while I fought laughter. "I get too much of that as is, you know."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't make great puns too, right?" I teased, smiling thinly at her and twerking my ears delightfully when she pouted adorably and shoved her nose in her book," Ah, don't be like that, sis."

"I know, Yang does that a lot too…" She murmured in a suffering way, sighing saly," Always trying to grab my behind too. Annoying." I laughed quietly again, though it was loud to the two of us, and sighed when she glared at me," It isn't funny."

"Sure it is." I argued, smiling brightly at her after her glare intensified," You need more people chasing your tail, you're a teenager. It's kind of in the job description. Besides, at least it isn't a guy this time."

"There you two are!" Ruby squeed happily, hurting both Faunus' ears due to the unexpected volume and pitch she managed to make before she smiled brightly," Why are you two hiding in here?"

"I'm making sure my blade's sharp, obviously. And she's reading, which is just as obvious." I snarked back, lacking the bite that would have made it an insult due mostly to the adorableness of the small girl. "Anyways, Leader, what do you want?"

"Well, wanted to know where my teammates were. Maybe get to know them! You know, boring leader stuff." Ruby said hopefully, smiling and waving her hands in an exaggerated dismissive way as I smiled. "Was kinda bored waiting too, and sis was being so annoying."

"Well, you came to the right place, I guess. I'm Luna and you've probably met Blake already." I gestured at the other Faunus with my foot, and the small girl nodded happily.

"Yes, I did. She introduced you to all of us while you were sleeping." She said simply, smiling politely and obviously fighting a smile.

"Blaaaakkkkkeee. Wake me up when I'm being introduced, you daft tit!" I whined, glancing at Blake. Suddenly, it hit me like a brick on the head, and I sighed sadly. "Did I make myself look stupid again?"

"You looked very adorable while your ears were twitching in your sleep." Blake commented, smiling derisively and flipping a page in her book.

"You'll look very adorable with my foot up your-." I scowled, as Ruby interrupted me with a chuckle.

"You two sound like my Uncle Qrow and my Dad. I like it." I blinked in surprise, canon giving me no idea of how Qrow and Taiyang interacted with each other. Apparently, they affectionately argued. "Anyways, We have our dorms now, but our things won't be sorted out until tomorrow…"

"So we're supposed to wear our new uniforms when we wake up…" Blake muttered, grimacing slightly for an unknown reason. I got up, putting my sword into the locker and closing it as we started going to our new dorm.

"It _was_ custom tailored, if you forgot, Blake." I said with a bright smile. "They'll probably be the best clothes we've worn. Ever. Especially since we can customize it and such, it's worth waitin' for." When the three of us had arrived, Weiss and Yang had long ago gone to sleep, the clock reading a decently late 10:30 for the first day of Beacon tomorrow, especially considering everything we'd had to go through to get here.

"Wait…"

There were four beds here, one for each of people on each of the normal teams, and even then it was quite cramped in the rather small room. So four beds were more than enough for a four-man team… But I was the fifth person, in a room meant and stocked for four.

"So, Blake…" I said uncomfortably, rubbing the back of my neck and smiling sheepishly. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Kick me out of my bed like you usually do and you're sleeping on the floor." Blake threatened, glaring a very much unamused way, and that was that.

 **XXX-XXX**

I smiled sleepily, curling up closer against the familiar warmth of Blake and relaxing in the morning sun peeking through the window next to us, just glad to have a nice, soft, warm bed to sleep on. It was nice, sleeping in warm covers in a place I knew I was safe and could rest up in peace. We'd not had this for years, and I was determined to enjoy it thoroughly before I'd have to get up. But sadly, the gnawing in my stomach was annoying, and eventually I left to go grab everyone food for the morning. What I returned to was… Honestly what I should have expected.

"What the _fuck_ is this?" The bunk beds were a total surprise to me in my now seventeen years of life since I had last seen RWBY, the animated version doing nothing compared to the sheer Euclidean insanity I was seeing before my eyes, even though it was exactly the same thing. Same books, same ropes, etcetera.

" _This_ was Ruby's idea- to make bunk beds. Oh, and yours is in the corner." I looked to the side, seeing that, yes, a fifth bed was in the corner, the small shelf holding Blake's books leaning against my footboard like some sort of support to hold the blasted thing up. "She took some of my books to do it too…"

"Hey now, Weiss Crispies, everyone likes bunk beds!" Yang said loudly, and happily, from the top of one of them, yanking her sister into a hug," They're awesome!"

"Yang! I can't breathe! Stahp!" She squealed, flailing uselessly against the infinitely stronger blonde woman's grip," Weiss! Help!"

"Unbelievable… Just absolutely, completely, unbelievable!" Weiss sighed to herself as I picked up my class schedule, seeing a note on the bottom addressed to me.

'Miss L Belladonna-

Please report to the Headmaster's office at 9 am to discuss your agreed upon duties. The teacher of your first class, Professor Port, has already been informed that you will likely miss the class.'

"Okay then… You guys can just… handle this shit on your own, I guess. Gotta run." I said to myself, buttoning my jacket and looking at them staring at me in confusion and sighing. "Ozpin wants me to go do some shit-"

"Language!" Ruby interrupted, pouting heavily enough I almost laughed," Potty mouth!"

"Yeah, don't cuss in front of my baby sister, ya cunt." Yang said in faux-chastisement, smiling until Ruby hurled a pillow into her face and knocked her over with a yell of 'potty mouth.' I sighed in amusement, turning to the door and slipping out while I could pull it off and not get caught up in the impromptu pillow fight.

 **XXX-XXX**

"Welcome, Miss Belladonna. Glad you could make it, and I do hope you do well in your role at our academy." Miss Goodwitch greeted, smiling as warmly as she was wont to ever really do, Ozpin giving a nod of acknowledgement as the elevator doors closed behind her. "Before we begin, are any of your team, including your sister, aware that you are a Student Teacher?"

"No, just myself. Was I supposed to tell them?" I asked in concern, reaching down to pull out my Scroll," I can text if ya want me to, ya know."

"No, I would prefer it if you didn't. A hunter must be prepared for anything-" Ozpin beckoned me forward and handed me a small device bearing information I could only assume was for me. He leaned back in his chair before continuing. "-For example, a serial killer."

"Anonymity will aid greatly in that avenue." Glynda added, smiling in a sort of off-happy way, likely eager to be teaching anything she found useful.

"So you want me to be that serial killer." I said, putting two and two together quickly enough, nodding my head ever-so-slightly in understanding. "And this will be part of the next class?"

"Exactly. This will all be run in state-of-the-art simulation, with no real possibility of harm being done. Thus, we expect you to _not_ hold back. You are a competent enough fighter, so use that skill against them. Our scenarios will help you easily enough. We prepared everything ourselves, with the required curriculum being outlined in each." She pulled out her Scroll, smiling. "I'll show you."

 **XXX-XXX**

"Hey, Blakey." My sister looked up from her book, blinking at me in surprise.

"Luna? Where have you been?"

I sighed. "Oh, you know… Ozpin's job took longer than expected. Just a little manual labor."

Her eyes narrowed. "He didn't make you do anything weird, did he?"

"Weird?" I raised my eyebrows. "Like what?"

"Like… You know…"

"Blake, what kind of person do you think he is?"

"I… don't. I just think it's strange that the headmaster of the school gives you work while the rest of us are off with other… wait." Blake's eyes widened. "Does he know about… our old job?"

"He, uh…" I didn't want to give away what I had been doing. It might be problematic later on. But still, Blake _did_ have a right to know about that. "He knows something, yeah."

Blake stared at me for a moment in mild terror. When she spoke, it was subconsciously a whisper. "Luna! What are you thinking?! If he learns too much, it's going to be a disaster!"

"Relax," I sidled up next to Blake, smiling reassuringly at her. As I spoke, I brushed my hand against her ears, concealed behind her bow. "I'm doing this work precisely to throw him off the trail. You know I'm good at that, right?" I continued to stroke her head, and a low purring told me I was getting where I needed to be.

"You… You swear he isn't a threat. Right?"

"I promise. He's willing to give us a chance. And what I'm doing is helping keep it that way." _Not altogether untrue,_ I thought. Blake sat still for a moment, leaning into me slightly. "You trust me, right?" I whispered.

"Yeah, I trust you. Just don't do anything… stupid."

"Good." I backed away, watching in amusement as Blake's face went from a look of bliss to one of dismay.

"I can't believe you just did that," She mumbled, fumbling with her bow to re-conceal her ears. "What if someone walked in?!"

"Oh, you like it," I teased. Secretly, I was happy she was mad at me. It meant she wasn't going to push the subject further. Confirmation came as I saw her scowl at me, then sink deep into her 'Don't-bother-me-I'm-reading' pose.

I quickly grabbed the papers I had come into the dorm for. With one last apologetic glance to my sister, I allowed the door to swing shut behind me.

 **XXX-XXX**

"So this is what they've got us doing, huh?" Yang wondered out loud. Her breath drifted visibly. "Not that I'm complaining, but is anyone else surprised how they managed to make it _so freaking cold_?"

"I-it's a little ch-chilly, yes…" Weiss's teeth chattered.

I smiled at the heiress, mildly amused. "You? Cold? I thought you'd love the snow." I stretched, trying not to give away that my ears and tail had already become stiff from the wind shear. "If we get inside somewhere soon, there shouldn't be much - _EEEEK!"_ I blushed brightly at my outburst, face hot despite the wet snow that had been slung at me finding its way into my shirt. It sent a new wave of shivers down my spine. Ruby, the little pipsqueak, laughed brightly.

"Yeah! Snowball fight! Snowball fight~!"

I was going to enjoy torturing her lat-Oh, wow. I was already slowly reverting to my White Fang personality. For now, though, I decided it was best to act natural. " _Why you goddamned, slippery little-!"_

Ruby squealed, dancing behind Yang for defense. "Yang! Protect me~!"

Yang acted as a shield long enough to give me a sly wink, then backed into Ruby, forcing her into a large snowbank. An earsplitting surprised shriek let me know that Ruby had indeed gotten the karmic backlash she deserved. I smiled thankfully at Yang before turning back to the others.

"Anyway, it's likely that they dropped us off near the hideout, so should we go over the plan one more time?"

Pyrrha and the rest of team JNPR gathered with our team, everyone trying to stay close together as we walked. Team CRDL had dropped back a bit, seemingly too "cool" to be seen hanging out with us. I couldn't help but think how satisfying it would be to catch them in some deathtraps later.

"We're looking for the hideout of notorious terrorist and serial killer, 'Stark White'." Pyrrha summarized, breathing on her hands for warmth.

"Wait… hideout?" Blake piped up. "So he might still be around here?"

"They said he's long gone, that patrols spooked him into fleeing. So there's something in there we need." Ren added, ignoring the fact that Nora, grinning stupidly, had attached herself to his arm and refused to let go. Pyrrha nodded.

"Right. The intel we have says the entrance is somewhere in the area, and once inside, we need to secure anything that may help bring to light future plans. Or hopefully, something that may aid in his cap-." She stopped in surprise, pointing forward to a mound of red snow.

 _Well, that's my cue._ I thought. Feigning concern, I walked over to the carefully concealed explosive charge. "Someone's hurt." My foot sank into the bloody patch, hiding the landmine that I had planted beforehand.

 _Click._

Five seconds till Showtime. I bent over, checking the pulse of the long-dead corpse. "She's gone!"

 _Boom._

I barely caught a flash of light and concussive wave before my mind was forced out of the simulation. Threads of light wove their way through my vision, the room all the team-members' unconscious bodies lay in slowly came into focus as my own sim-pod opened. Before me stood Glynda, hand extended to me. I took it, shrugging the last of the drowsy feeling off.

"An excellent start, Miss Belladonna. I don't think any of them have any reason to suspect you yet."

"Good. Where do I go from here?" I glanced at the other pods; Everyone looked to be in a deep sleep, eyes twitching under their eyelids, and the occasional jerk of an arm or leg. It was kind of pathetic, and I really hoped I looked more photogenic while I was out.

"We have a pod in another room set up, so as to not attract attention when more students exit the simulation." We walked as we spoke, down a long corridor filled with maintenance equipment. It was clear they weren't taking any chances of discovery, because the room we ended up at was quite obviously a custodial closet; it still smelled like cleaning solvents and mildewy mops. I gagged a little as we entered. There in the center of the room sat the sleek metal pod, shininess completely at odds with the dingy setting it had been placed in. I looked at Glynda in mild dismay. she smiled mock-pleasantly, ushering me into the pod with her riding crop.

"Off you go."

I nodded, reclining back in the seat. "Where am I headed? And any explanation?

"A control room, where you'll get your gear. We will have closed-channel communications with you inside the simulation, so you are free to ask for anything you for the explaination- You are getting lunch for everyone." Glynda motioned an 'OK' to a camera in the ceiling; I felt a slight jolt of electricity, followed by the strange sensation of falling as my eyes fluttered shut.

 **XXX-XXX**

"Someone's hurt." Luna said, bending over to check the person's pulse. Cardin arrived with the rest of his team, scowling. " What's the Fox doing?"

"Checking on a body."

"She's gone!" Luna yelled, as something detonated. Blake blinked, dirt, dust, and snow going into the air. Ruby gulped, looking up at the area she was standing, wiping snow from their faces.

"Sis?" Blake said, a hint of panic in her voice as she momentarily forgot that this was just a simulation and she cautiously climbed the hill, looking at the clear area.

Luna lay on her back, laying perfectly still, as the reason was revealed- One of her legs was gone to the thigh, sections of her chest torn apart by shrapnel, and her left arm was connected to both her shoulder and elbow by the tendons alone. The contacts were useless as a disguise at this point- as half of her face was gouged out, her right eye included, and the left side of her face had the beginnings of a surprised look.

"Oh god." Yang said from beside her, as Blake shook her head, clinging to the fact that this was only a simulation even as she shuddered in fear and sorrow over her 'dead' sister. Yang noticed it, turning to Blake with an empathetic grimace, "Blake…"

"Damn…" Cardin said with an audible gulp, turning and walking away a few steps and covering his mouth. "Good thing this is only a simulation, nobody should die like that… Not even a Faunus deserves something like that..."

"... Let's just go." Blake said softly, ignoring Cardin's semi-racist comment and turning to the large entrance and going down to the others. "We need to get out of here, so let's get going."

The three teams were silent as they opened the blast doors, which easily opened with a groan as they entered.

They stepped into the room, a large entryway, and as they looked around Ruby suppressed a shiver at it's cold atmosphere. Though the air itself was warm, the very building seemed to dislike their presence.

"Creepy…"

 **XXX-XXX**

I grunted as I shot up off the bed in the small, dark room, grasping at my chest in pure reaction to the faint sense of pain that was going through my body. Looking around, I took in myself and the room.

I looked much like I had before, save for the fact that I was wearing something completely different. My hair was dyed a bone-white,for one, and my eye color was my true eye color, the scanner easily penetrating the contacts I wore. A porcelain mask rested on the desk, completely blank and featureless save for two eye holes. Unbuttoning my jacket, I exposed the plain white T-shirt underneath, revealing my gender instead of being a androgynous mystery, and my hands slipped into my jeans' pockets as I looked down at my boots, tugging my gloves a bit.

"Fits great… How'd they get my sizes down so well?" With that done, I took a look around the surprisingly well-cleaned room as I sat at the computer and relaxed into the seat, seeing a map layout form pop up on my screen almost immediately, showing the entire building the sim took place in along with everyone's locations using their symbols as their markers. "Alright then… shotgun trap here, percussion scythe here, maybe a pitfall there… This might actually be fun."

 **X-X**

"So," Yang said quietly, looking at everyone around her and biting her lip somewhat nervously, "What do we do now?" No one answered right away, looking at each other nervously and curiously in equal amount, "C'mon, guys, _someone_ has to have some kind of idea what to do."

"Well, obviously, we should start by trying to figure out what the test is and leaving." Weiss said haughtily, sighing when everyone just looked at her and gesturing at the door, "There is only one door, you twits!" True enough, the barren, grey room had nothing in it, and only one door leading further inside.

"She's right. Who volunteers to check out the hallway, or whatever, on the other side?" Ruby asked brightly, if nervously when Weiss turned to give her a look with a raised eyebrow.

"It was _my_ idea, you dolt. I will not be losing the credit for it because you or anyone else showed _my_ initiative." Ruby shrank under the harsh words slightly, sliding closer to her sister who glared at Weiss angrily and hugged her younger sister protectively. Seeing no one willing to argue, she walked towards the door herself, grumbling about dolts, and casually threw it open, turning with her back to it and opening her mouth to tell them to 'come on'. A loud, almost deafening, bang startled both Weiss and everyone else, the others jumping and staring at her in concern for several seconds before she spoke again, "What's everyone-"

"Weiss, don't move your head, and just try to relax, okay?" Ruby said meekly, walking towards her slowly and calmly, hands shaking slightly in spite of herself

"Why would I not be-" Weiss's voice caught in her throat as a spell of dizziness hit her and she blinked a few times, "I don't feel so well…" She tried to reach up with her hand to press her left hand against her head and steady herself, and blinked in surprise when nothing touched her head.

"Don't look, Weiss!" Yang tried to warn just as Ruby practically leapt the last couple feet towards her, the pale girl falling at the same time as she looked at the stump where her elbow used to meet her lower arm in surprise.

"Oh, gods, my arm's gone… My arm's… gone…" Her voice lowered and slowly grew quieter, her eyes involuntarily closing as the accelerated bleed-out function of the simulation saved her the agony of a fatal wound. Her remaining hand hit the cold ground with a feeble slap, the rest of the group staring in somber silence.

Yang was the first to speak, though her voice cracked a little as she found her words. "O-okay, just… everyone, just stay together. Everything's a group decision from now on, okay?"

Pyrrha nodded in concurrence. "We should keep each other in line from here on out. I'm not sure what's going on in here but…" She looked back at the gaping hole in the recently inconspicuous door and shuddered slightly, grimacing. "I don't think that's the last time we'll see a trap like that."

"So we just need to open doors from the side from now on, right?" Ruby pointed out. "Then any traps on the doors will be useless."

"Yes, that might help…" Pyrrha said thoughtfully.

"But door traps aren't all we're going to see," Ren said, subtly trying to shake Nora off his arm. "I don't know how we can plan for whatever else is in there."

"Just be cautious. Moving fast in booby-trapped areas is suicide, anyway." Blake sighed. "Stuff like this comes with the territory of dealing with terrorists. They're fear-mongers. It's in the title."

"Two down, and we're practically at the front door? This is brilliant..." Cardin mumbled, adjusting his grip on his mace nervously.

"Hey, maybe someone should wait out here… Y'know, if we get attacked from behind?" Russel offered, perspiration noticeable on his face.

Yang groaned, turning to glare at the man in a clearly unamused way. "Can it, loser. Everyone goes in and we're working as a team."

"I think all Russel was saying was that we can work as a team… separately?" Dove tried to cover, but shrank away from Yang's heat-powerful glare.

"Guys… Are we getting anything done right now? We've got a job to do." Jaune motioned at the ominous door before them.

"Jaune's right. We're not going to succeed if we're too afraid to step forward." Ruby said, moving slowly to the entrance and peering in. "And it's just a long hallway here. I don't see anything that looks trappish." The group looked at one another for objections. Finding none, the eleven participants filed into the dim hallway, Ruby at the head, followed closely by Pyrrha and Yang, the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR, and team CRDL meekly trailing behind. No one spoke; the dead silence that surrounded them befitting the catacomb-like complex that sprawled before them.


End file.
